Fracking brings protest and possible expansion for YSU

Protesters march through campus Wednesday afternoon, chanting their frustrations against hydraulic fracturing. The group marched to the Covelli Centre downtown, where a conference concerning fracking took place. Photo by Josh Stipanovich/The Jambar.

A flood of protesters marched through campus Wednesday en route to the Youngstown Ohio Utica and Natural Gas conference at the Covelli Centre downtown.

More than 200 protesters traveled from Ohio and Pennsylvania to raise awareness of the widely debated harms of fracking.

The protest and conference was preceded by a Youngstown State University announcement to open a Natural Gas and Water Resources Institute proposed by Martin Abraham, dean of the College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. The institute would create undergraduate courses and a gas technologies minor.

“Given YSU’s location in the heart of the Utica shale region, this new institute is well-poised to meet the educational and research demands and needs central to this new and growing industry,” Abraham said in a YSU press release.

While protesters outside the downtown conference echoed the arguments against fracking, Rich Musick — a board member for the Western Reserve Port Authority — argued the economic benefits, specifically the employment opportunities the Utica and Marcellus shales could bring to the community.

WRPA purchased property formerly operated by Indalex in Girard. The property was leased to V & M Star, a steel manufacturer, to store construction materials during its $650 million expansion.

“Even jobs not necessarily involving drilling but pipefitters, welders and plumbers as well,” Musick said. He added that there would also be openings for geologists.

Andres Visnapuu, also a board member for WRPA, said that Youngstown is a good location.

“We have a phenomenal location to become a service hub for responsible natural resources,” Visnapuu said.

Susie Beiersdorfer, a part-time instructor of geology at YSU, helped to organize the protest. She visited the expo for her own edification, despite her beliefs.

“We do not have enough regulations in place for the whole drilling process from the drilling, use of the water and where to take that water after it’s been fracked and full of chemicals,” Beiersdorfer said.

The Associated Press reported Sunday that the V & M Star $650 million expansion would provide 350 Youngstown jobs as the mill will produce pipes and materials used in the fracking process. Still, Beiersdorfer said that that amount of jobs would not be enough to help the local economy, struggling with 11 percent unemployment.